


Stars Tonight

by icedoverlove



Category: Keeper of the Lost Cities Series - Shannon Messenger
Genre: F/F, Fluff and Humor, Light Angst, M/M, No Beta, We Die Like Men, not mutual pining, the love square gets solved
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-16
Updated: 2020-06-30
Packaged: 2021-03-02 02:20:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,105
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23687572
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/icedoverlove/pseuds/icedoverlove
Summary: “Wow,” Fitz breathed out, staring up at the brilliant night sky. “The stars are so beautiful tonight.”Keefe laughed from where he lay beside Fitz. “You know who else is beautiful?”“Sophie Foster.” Fitz Vacker, Keefe Sencen, and Dex Dizznee all simultaneously said from where they lay on the grass. Three boys. One girl. This isn’t going to end well. At least, no one thought it would.Yes, it's based off of a tumblr incorrect quotes thing, alright?
Relationships: Dex Dizznee/Fitz Vacker, Keefe Sencen/Tam Song, Sophie Foster/Linh Song
Comments: 14
Kudos: 86





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I started writing this like 10 months ago, but it never saw the light of day. I'm pretty proud of it though so here's half of what I have written so far. Also, this fanfiction kind of takes place in a warped timeline that's before Nightfall but after Flashback but also before Flashback ahaha...
> 
> Warning: It does contain swearing.

“Wow,” Fitz breathed out, staring up at the brilliant night sky. “The stars are so beautiful tonight.”

Keefe laughed from where he lay beside Fitz. “You know who else is beautiful?”

“Sophie Foster.” Fitz Vacker, Keefe Sencen, and Dex Dizznee all simultaneously said from where they lay on the grass. Three boys. One girl. This isn’t going to end well. At least, no one thought it would.

“Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit,” Tam Song was usually quite good with keeping his cussing at a minimum, something he found hard to do at times, but today and right now were particularly specific occasions where he had an excuse. Before he could be noticed, Tam ducked behind a shelf of small plushies, hoping he hadn’t been seen. The Shade placed a hand over his heart, begging it to calm down. He needed to have a clear head to think of a way to escape the scene without being spotted.

On the other side of the shelf was none other than Keefe Sencen, the smart and talented Empath, the one placed second best in his Foxfire Level, and the guy Tam had been pining over for at least a year now. There was no way Tam was going to risk getting caught in _this_ shop of all places. Cute plushies, glittery stationary, custom jewelry… Keefe was never going to let him live this one down.

Taking a deep breath, Tam peeked over the side of the shelf, checking to see if Keefe was occupied. If he was quick enough, maybe he could dash away without being spotted. Tam, however, was met with a much more concerning sight. Keefe was nowhere to be found. The blond had been browsing through the painting supplies just a minute ago, but now he had disappeared. _Shit_.

“Oh, hey, Bangs Boy,” a voice called from behind Tam, causing the boy to freeze from head to toe. “Whatcha lookin’ at?” Tam whipped around to face Keefe, trying hard to keep his face from flushing up.

“Just some… girls…,” Tam squeaked out. “…stuff,” he added quickly after realizing how weird that first statement would have sounded. _Wow, real smooth, Tam. Talk about girls to the guy you like_. When Keefe didn’t respond, Tam continued on. “Actually, I’m here to get Linh a, like, hair clip or something. She gave me some real good dati – life advice and I thought I should repay her. Besides, she’s always brushing her hair out of her face and when I tell her to stop, she splashes water in my face and tells me that I do the same thing.”

“You _do_ do the same thing.”

Tam scowled. “Well, I’ll be off,” he said, starting to turn away. He was quite glad this conversation had been quite civil, not resulting in either one of the two blowing off over something stupid.

“Wait,” Keefe said, “can I come along?”

Tam frowned. “Um, why?”

“Just an excuse to delay going back to my dad’s weird beach house,” Keefe forced a smile. “And besides, I already did all my shopping!” Keefe held up his bag full of paint supplies.

“Please tell me you aren’t going to draw some more stuff and give them to Sophie,” Tam sighed.

“Hey, don’t insult the Gift Master,” Keefe retorted. “Anyway, I think I saw some really cool barrettes near the back of the store once.” He gestured to the far right with his free hand.

“Well then, consider us reluctant shopping partners,” Tam mumbled, following Keefe as the blond led him around a few aisles towards the back.

Keefe was right. They really did have cool barrettes here. Tam picked out a small glittery one from the piles.

“No, dude, get her this one,” Keefe held up a clip with a small murcat design glued to it. Tam frowned.

“Oh god, no,” he groaned. “It’s bad enough that she has a real live one at Tiergan’s house just waiting to eat us all alive.” Keefe laughed, placing it back onto the shelf.

“So, you still haven’t settled in, huh?”

“What?” Tam turned to look at Keefe, but the other boy continued digging through the stash of hair clips and pins.

“You called it ‘Tiergan’s house’, not home,” Keefe pointed out.

“Well, it isn’t home,” Tam said bluntly. “I know I live there now, but I’m just staying over until we’re able to find a better solution. It doesn’t really matter anyway. In a few years Linh and I will be off to the Gold Tower and then it’s onwards through life.” Keefe didn’t respond and Tam wondered about why he had just revealed one of his insecurities to someone who probably didn’t even care. No matter how long he lived in the Lost Cities, Tam doubted that he would ever call it home.

“What about you?” Tam asked instead, shifting the conversation over to Keefe. “I don’t hear you calling your dad’s beach house a home either.”

“Yeah, well, y’know…” Keefe didn’t elaborate. He didn’t need to. “And to me, home isn’t a place. It’s a person. Oh, get her this one!” Keefe reached towards the back of the shelf, grabbing a barrette with a small green dragon attached to it. “Because she’s a Level Four at Foxfire.”

“That’s actually… not a bad idea,” Tam said, taking the pin from Keefe. They headed towards the front of the shop to buy the barrette. “By the way, where is your bodyguard? I doubt she’d have let you come in here all on your own.”

“Ah, well the door was a bit too small, and I told her I wasn’t going to pay for property damage, so she’s probably out there scaring half the elves on the street with her glaring.”

Tam smirked. “Good for her.”

Dex brought a huge stack of books over to the table where he and Fitz were sitting at, making sure to glare extra hard at the back of Fitz’s head. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. Just before midterms, Fitz had decided that they should hold a studying session and help each other suffer through till the end. And Dex had only agreed because Sophie was going. And if she needed help, he was definitely going to score some points – right in front of this jerk.

At least, that was the plan. Sophie had cancelled on them just minutes before Dex arrived at the library.

“You seriously going to read all of that?” Fitz asked, looking up from his paper. His eyebrow was arched in a snobbish way, and Dex had the sudden urge to punch it off his face. Of course, resorting to violence was never a good thing, but thinking about it never hurt anyone, right? “Dex, I can assure you Level Four studies aren’t _that_ hard.”

Dex rolled his eyes. “You’re only saying that because you were the top of the grade when you were in Level Four. I bet you didn’t even have to study to pass with one hundred.”

“Yeah, well – ” Fitz was suddenly cut off by a hail from his Imparter. Keefe.

“When are you getting here?” Fitz demanded the moment Keefe’s face popped up on the screen.

“Woah, chill, dude. Do you really miss me that much?” Keefe rubbed the back of his neck and glanced at the floor. “Actually, um, I’m going to have to cancel on you guys today. I’m helping Bangs Boy with his shopping.”

“Shut up!” Tam’s yell could be heard from somewhere offscreen. Keefe tilted his Imparter to reveal the Shade sulking beside him. He threw an arm around Tam, ignoring the murderous look in the other boy’s eyes. “We’re best buds now, sorry dude.”

“First Biana cancels on us, then Tam and Linh, then Sophie and now you, too?” Dex complained from beside Fitz. “And you cancelled on _us_ to hang out with each other!”

Keefe grinned. “You two look fine on your own. Well, see ya.” Without waiting for a response, Keefe ended their chat, leaving the screen blank.

“I’m going to clobber him.”

“Or we could sneak something nasty into his food the next time we see him,” Dex grinned. He momentarily forgot about his rivalry with Fitz as he began planning on how to get back at the others.

Fitz laughed. “Are you really willing to prank your pranking buddy?”

“Anything for you.”

There was an awkward silence as Dex realized what he had just said. “Augh! That’s not – uh, I didn’t – um, yeah, uhhh – that, uhm, really came out wrong,” he stuttered, most likely glowing all different shades of pink by now. “I promise I’m not using a pickup line on you or anything…”

Fitz smiled. “You’re all good, man,” he replied, making Dex crave the sweet release of death. Now Fitz was going to think he was some dumb underclassman trying to hit on him. Not that Dex cared what Fitz thought. A small bud of anger began to blossom in Dex’s chest.

Fitz suddenly crumpled up the paper he had previously been writing on, tossing it into a nearby bin. “How about we ditch, too?”

 _We_. As in, they ditch _together_. Dex couldn’t deny the thought sounded tempting. Not the together part, that he was less than happy about, but he definitely wasn’t in the mood for studying anymore. Not after Sophie bounced and after what had just happened.

“Wonderboy ditching?” Dex feigned gasping. “What a scandal! They’re going to be talking about this for generations and generations to come!”

Fitz’s gaze darkened, and Dex knew he had hit a sore spot. The Vacker boy was not very fond of being inferior at anything, even something as irresponsible as _ditching_. When he spoke again, there was an edge to his voice, “where did you say you hid those pranking elixirs, again?”

Sophie and Linh were on a date. At least, Sophie thought it was a date. She couldn’t really tell with the way Linh had worded their outing. She hadn’t exactly said “date”, but she hadn’t said it was just a hangout either. But Sophie wasn’t about to ask her, so it remained a mystery.

She was pretty sure hanging out didn’t mean giving the person a bundle of flowers or offering to pay the whole entire meal. But she was also sure that dates didn’t mean casually walking around Atlantis and window shopping. Sophie had never actually been on a date though, so there was no way of knowing for sure.

What Sophie did know for sure, however, was that her heart was racing mightily quickly for some simple handholding, and that was _definitely_ not just a hangout thing.

“Aww,” Linh gushed, pulling Sophie over to a nearby shop. Through the glass, Sophie could see small house pets roaming around in their cages. “They are so precious!”

Sophie smiled, feeling her heart squeeze at the way Linh’s eyes lit up as they trailed over the various species behind the glass. “Yeah, they really are.” But if she was being honest, she wasn’t referring to the animals when she said it.

There was a grunt from behind them, making Sophie kind of hate the fact that she had a full-time babysitter with her on this sort-of-date. Her thoughts were pushed aside, however, when Linh straightened up and they began walking again.

“It’s our day today,” Linh said softly, giving Sophie a soft and sweet smile. “We can do whatever we want.”

Sophie tightened her grip around their intertwined fingers, wishing she could hold them without the need of her gloves. This was definitely better than sitting in a stuffy library for the entire day and studying with her friends.

Linh stopped short, pulling Sophie back by their connected hands. “Sophie, look at that shop!” The Hydrokinetic was pointing at a small boutique with flowery designs on the window. There were beautiful summer dresses on display. “Shall we check it out?”

Sophie nodded, and Linh pulled the both of them in with Sandor following behind. It took two seconds for Linh to grab a dress, shove it into Sophie’s hands, and then push her towards the Dressing Rooms. Biana’s influence towards the Hydrokinetic were really starting to show.

It was a simple red dress with thin straps and gold buttons in the front that went from the top to the waist. Had Linh really just come in here so she could make her wear this dress? She put it on in a hurry and ignored the way her heart pounded as she stepped out of the small room and out into the open.

Linh’s eyes widened when she caught sight of Sophie. A light pink tint dusted over her cheeks. “They were right,” she said softly, “red suits you very well.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the angst

Tam huffed out a breath, glaring at Keefe from beneath his bangs, “You done yet?”

“Nope!” With three bags of groceries in tow, including a fourth one being carried by Tam, Keefe was still finding items that needed to be bought from the shopping list. “When my dad lets me spend his money, I go crazy.”

Tam smirked, tapping the side of his head. “Big brain thoughts.”

“Glad to see you’re on my side.”

“Is he your boyfriend?”

“He’s too cool for you!”

“This guy is a looooooser!”

Dex let out a long groan as the triplets crowded around him, letting out insult after insult about how Dex was too much of a loser to ever get Fitz as a boyfriend. Well, he didn’t need their approval. _Not that I want to date him_ , Dex added quickly as an afterthought.

“Just ignore them,” he grumbled and headed towards his room.

Sophie had bought the dress and was now wearing it as she and Linh continued to walk through Atlantis on their window-shopping sort-of-date. They passed by the Matchmakers, and Sophie was struck with the urge to ask Linh about it.

“Are… are you signing up for the match?” Sophie asked, looking away from her.

“I don’t know yet.” Her response was understandable, Sophie felt the same way. “I don’t think I could bear it if the person I want wasn’t on the lists.”

Sophie looked up at her in shock. “You have someone in mind?”

Linh had a dreamy look in her eyes as she gazed towards the building. “I’ve met someone recently, yes,” she said softly. “Someone who changed my life.”

“Tam, check this out,” Keefe called from the end of the aisle, holding up a pair of what looked like brown thigh high boots. Tam had to slap a hand over his mouth to keep from laughing and barfing at the same time. In three strides, the Shade had picked his way across the dozens of discarded shoes left by troublemaking children and latched his arm through Keefe’s.

“Right, that’s enough for you today,” Tam said, dragging the other boy over towards the exit, much to his protest.

“Well that’s a new record,” Ro grumbled when they exited the shop. “It usually takes him hours to get out of there. Sophie was the only one who could manage to drag Lord Hunky here away from his precious shoes and hair products. Before you, that is.”

Tam raised an eyebrow. “That so?”

Keefe rolled his eyes. “I’m not that obsessed. Just giving Bangs Boy some sensible fashion advice that he really should listen to. I mean, look at this scruffy hair,” Keefe reached over to fuss Tam’s bangs. Tam gave him a death glare.

“Are you forgetting that I’m the one holding your groceries?”

“Right, yeah, I’m going to need you to hold on to one more thing for me.” Keefe transferred all three of his shopping bags onto one hand, leaving the left one free of any bags. He held it out to Tam.

“No. No, you did not just – ughhhhh,” Tam groaned, pressing his fingers to his temples to keep his head from bursting at the cringe. He started walking down the side of the street to get away from Keefe before realizing with a start that he had no idea where he was going. “You feel ready to go home yet, Blondie?”

At the mention of returning to the Shores of Solace, Keefe seemed to deflate. “It’s not home,” he mumbled. “Just a… temporary residence.”

Tam gave him a sad smile. “It’ll get better,” he slowly started to walk back towards Keefe. “Give it a few years and you’ll be off in the Gold and Silver Towers learning how to live a life away from your dad – form your own path.”

“One year.”

“Huh?”

“One year until I go.” And even though the arrival of the elite levels was something that the two of them were looking forward to in order to finally be free of childhood burdens, Keefe had a hint of sorrow to his voice when he said it. Tam understood.

“Don’t worry, we’ll be fine without you here to enlighten us with your cringey vibes,” Tam reassured him.

“I wasn’t worried about you guys, I’m worried about me!” Keefe blurted out. Tam could tell that he had tried to make it sound like a joke, but the desperation in his voice was a dead giveaway. This was something Keefe probably worried often about. “I mean, what am I going to do without Foster, the Dexinator or you here to make things fun?”

Tam smiled. He tried to ignore the small hole of dread that was starting to open up in his chest. Of course, Keefe had mentioned Sophie first. They had known each other longer – years before Tam had even met them. And no matter how much he wanted to deny it, you had to be a fool to not notice the way Keefe looked at Sophie. The way he acted around her. The way he always seemed to glow brighter when she was around. You had to be a fool to fall in love with Keefe Sencen, and Tam was the biggest fool of all.

“Lighten up, blondie, you have Fitz to keep you company.”

Keefe shrugged. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but he and I haven’t been on the best of terms lately.”

Tam rolled his eyes. “It’s because you both have eyes for the same girl,” he realized what he’d said a second too late. From all the weeks of observation, Tam was well aware that Keefe’s obvious crush on Sophie was not something he was very fond of discussing. Thinking fast, Tam quickly looped his right arm through Keefe’s left one. He ignored the way their hands quickly brushed against each other.

“C’mon, I’m taking you home,” Tam decided. He heard Ro grumble a “finally” from behind them. But instead of reluctantly agreeing and just dealing with his inevitable fate, Keefe turned to look at Tam with furrowed eyebrows.

“You okay, man?”

Tam frowned. “Yeah… why?”

Without responding, Keefe shifted the arm that was currently in Tam’s hold and grasped onto the other boy’s hand. Tam realized what he was doing a second too late.

The emotions that Tam felt – the emotions that he was currently feeling – were one of his biggest insecurities at the moment. It was like dread, despair, heartache, pain, frustration and love all mixed into one tight knot in the center of his chest, sitting there day in and day out. Over time, he’d gotten used to it. Just a constant weight over his chest. He could deal with that. The only other person who knew was Linh, his twin sister, who gave him some lovely dating advice about confessing your attraction to someone – bold words for a girl who couldn’t even admit her own crush.

Tam sighed, knowing that it was finally time to admit what he had been avoiding for the past few months.

“So, uh…” Fitz began, breaking the heavy silence that surrounded him and Dex, “you… like pranking people?” Dex paused in his rummaging, elbow deep in a container of ingredients, and shot him a glare.

“Is that seriously your best attempt to start a conversation with me, Wonderboy? You could’ve said ‘oh wow, Dex, you sure are a cool kid to keep all these alchemy tools stacked up in your room. I feel so lame with all my golden blocks of furn – ‘ Crap!” Dex cut short his sarcastic taunting to hold up an almost empty bottle of green liquid. By the look of things, they were going to have to take a small trip down to Slurps and Burps to grab some more supplies.

“Why, what’s wrong?” Fitz asked, coming up to stand behind Dex.

“How would you feel about a small trip to Slurps and Burps? I’m out of Greenleaf Elixir.” Dex slid the thin bottle into one of his pockets and took out a small, clear leaping crystal. Blushing slightly, he reached his hand out to Fitz, looking away when the other boy grabbed onto it. He held the crystal up to the light, and stepped into it.

Before Dex could gather his thoughts and take in his surroundings, he felt two hands clamp around his shoulders and pull him off the trail of a moving vendor cart. “You okay?”

Dex felt like he wanted to vomit. Not only had Fitz pulled him out of “harm’s” way, he was standing over Dex and looking down at him in a way that felt… protective. And Dex was sure he could see the golden sparkles secreting from him. His stomach definitely twisted with disgust. The feeling gave Dex an urge to punch his gut and make Wonderboy jokes to make the feeling go away.

“You really have to be perfect at everything, do you?” Dex muttered, pulling away from Fitz. He began to head off in the direction of Slurps and Burps, not caring if Fitz was following or not. Sure, it did make Dex feel kind of bad about it, but he really needed to get rid of the weird butterflies that had started fluttering around recently whenever the Wonderboy was around. The same ones he got when he hung out with Sophie, but oddly enough, they were starting to fade away. He pushed all concerning thoughts away when the looming, curved and rainbow-colored building came into view. Dex headed through the doors, grinning at the belch that the front door made at being opened. The shop was closed and shadows shrouded every corner, but Dex instantly relaxed when he stepped inside. Familiar aromas flooded his nose – some not as nice smelling as others – and a calming rumble filled the apothecary. Dex turned around to look at Fitz, who was walking through the doorway.

“Mind your step on the third tile,” he called behind himself, “my dad measured the average stride a noble would take when walking into Slurps and Burps, then planned a few nifty tricks to keep them on their feet.”

“…Oh.” Fitz quickly put down the foot that had been hovering over the third tile just seconds before. “That’s good to know.” He moved to the right.

“Don’t do that either,” Dex quickly warned. Fitz froze and Dex sighed. “The right tile is… you know what? Never mind.” Instead of verbally guiding Fitz through the correct steps, Dex reached over and grabbed his left arm. “It’ll be better if you just stay with me.”

Fitz frowned, but he allowed Dex to tug him through the aisles. “Normal elves could fall for this just as easily.”

Dex shrugged. “Regulars get used to it pretty quickly. If the nobles came here more often instead of using us as a last resort kind of thing, maybe they wouldn’t hate it so much.” Fitz didn’t seem to have a response to that, so the pair continued to walk in silence. The shop got darker as they walked deeper. After a few minutes of meandering through the shelves, Dex came to a sudden halt.

“Are we… here?” Fitz asked hesitantly. Dex hardly heard him. Sure, this day had started off pretty horrendously, but being in his shop – in his environment – had really done a great deal in getting Dex to forget about his current troubles. Even though the cause of his problems was tagging along after. The Technopath dashed through the shelves, grabbing an assortment of items off the shelf as he did so. Random elixirs, scents used for pranking, and the occasional odd item. He felt the world melt away as it always did when he managed to lose himself in the aisles of this amazing shop – his home away from home.

Dex set the pile of odd ingredients onto one of the work benches. His eyes caught on Fitz’s teal blue ones, the Telepath wearing an expression that Dex had never seen on him before. If he hadn’t been so sure it wasn’t, Dex might have been able to convince himself that the look was one of admiration. Instead, he blamed it on the darkness of the shop and his inability to read people well. After all, that was Keefe’s job, not his. And why did he care what Fitz thought of him?

“Wh-what do you want?” He demanded. And just like that, the expression disappeared without a trace. And Dex would be lying if he said he didn’t miss it. Just a bit.

_Someone who changed my life_. That was what Linh had said. Someone that had changed her life. And it was true, Sophie had changed her life. But, so had Fitz. So had Keefe and Dex and Biana. Sophie changing Linh’s life didn’t mean a thing. Sighing, Sophie pushed these thoughts to the back of her head. Linh was holding her hand and the day was theirs. Until Sophie messed it up.

She hadn’t meant to say those words; they had just popped up out of the blue, and she deeply regretted them the moment they were out. “What do you think the Neverseen are up to right now?” Linh looked back at her and frowned.

“Sophie, why are you worrying about that?” Linh frowned. “The reason why I got you out of the house and out of studying today was so that you could distract yourself from them. You’ve had too much on your mind recently.”

“You can say that again,” Sandor piped up from behind the girls. Sophie smiled. Out of everyone, Sandor probably had it worse, having to listen to her mental breakdowns every night regarding their enemy.

“You’re probably right,” Sophie admitted. In fact, she was _sure_ they were right. “But… I just can’t stand the fact that they’re always one step ahead of us. We don’t have time to be – “

“To be kids?” Linh interjected with a raised eyebrow. “Everything that has happened, everything that will happen; none of it is ever your fault. It’s theirs.” Linh paused in her speech to grab both of Sophie’s hands in hers. And she gave a soft smile that could light up the whole world. “You deserve a break.”

Sophie furrowed her eyebrows, unconvinced. She was having fun, too much fun, and it made her uncomfortable. She wanted more than anything to be able to take this one chance and forget everything, even for just a few hours, but reminders of the Neverseen, thoughts of the Black Swan and memories of the Council weighed heavy on her mind. Affairs involving Linh and having fun should be the last thing on her mind right now. And yet…

“Actually, there’s another reason why I wanted to bring you to Atlantis today,” Linh began hesitantly, bringing Sophie out of her dark swirling thoughts. “I, um…” She paused, as if trying to find the right words to use before giving up altogether. “C’mon!” Linh proposed instead, letting go of Sophie’s right hand.

She then proceeded to drag the other girl past the Matchmakers’ offices, through the beautiful streets of Atlantis, and between dark, but comfortable, alleyways, not stopping until they reached a small fountain square pressed between a few shops and houses. It was cozy and void of any elves, almost like a secret hideout in plain sight.

 _Hideouts_ …, Sophie remembered with a shudder what it had been like having to flee from the Lost Cities – away from the Council, the Neverseen, and away from her parents.

“Because of the Unity Fountain, Atlantians hardly come to this place, which is perfect for these kinds of conversations,” Linh said, jumping onto the wide rim of the fountain pool. With a graceful flick of her wrist, Linh set the small fountain to life by calling the unused water of the pool back to the top of the structure in a perpetual cycle. The soft splashing of water helped to calm Sophie and dispel further thoughts of the Neverseen from her mind.

“There’s a reason why I brought you to Atlantis today,” Linh continued, bringing her attention back to Sophie with a repetition of what she had stated earlier. “A few days ago, my brother came and asked me for advice with his crush. Which is kind of funny because, well, I am not dating anyone. I told him that his chances with his crush were probably close to nothing, and…” Linh paused to look away from Sophie and up towards the huge dome that protected Atlantis. She was still standing on top of the fountain rim, their hands still connected in the space between the two.

“…and?” Sophie prompted.

“He told me that _my_ chances with my crush were probably even less than his,” Linh finished with a small laugh. She then turned her gaze back to Sophie, looking the Telepath dead in the eye. “And he was probably right. So, I decided to bring her flowers and call her to a date in Atlantis, pay for the meal, and then go window shopping for the rest of the day before bringing her here… to confess.”

Sophie blinked, unsure of how to respond. She clenched her free hand into a fist so she wouldn’t be tempted to reach up and tug on her eyelashes. “H-how did it go?”

Linh smirked, jumped off the fountain rim, and intertwined both of her hands with Sophie’s, bringing their hands up to their chests. Linh’s face was _so close_ , and Sophie swore she could count every one of her eyelashes. Linh leaned in so that their foreheads were touching and whispered her response.

“I don’t know, you tell me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> schedule: next month, i'm going to be working on the 3rd chapter of my saiki kusuo fanfiction, so part 3 of stars tonight may not be back until end of may or early june (deh anyone?) unless I manage to write it before hand. this series will most likely finish at part 3, but who knows. after this, i will start on the series fall in love with witch boys ft. mage!tam and princess!biana and then onto a plot i've had for a while called linh takes a stand.  
> thanks for reading and stay safe yalls!!
> 
> Instagram | @icedoverlove


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the romance and stuff... you know?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> happy pride y'all  
> i finished just in time  
> tHiS cHaPtEr wAs sO hArD tO wRiTe pLeAse

“Keefe, I – “ Tam broke off, not sure how he was going to say this. “Um, can we… talk?”

“Oh, geez, are you breaking up with me?” Keefe asked sarcastically.

“ _Keefe_.”

“Right, sorry. Actually, Ro, can we…?” Sensing his obvious discomfort, Keefe grabbed onto Tam’s arm and dragged him, groceries and all, down the street and into the alleyway behind two shops.

“Thanks,” Tam mumbled after he and Keefe settled down on the slightly damp stone floor. He leaned his back against the wall, trying to figure out how he was going to confess to Keefe. Stalling was out of the question; Keefe would pick up on it right away. There was only one option left in the books – winging it.

“What does this do?” Fitz asked, holding up a vial halfway filled with a shiny, dark blue liquid.

“Can you—” _Focus?_ The word caught in Dex’s throat when he looked up from the worktable and spotted the glass vial pinched carefully between Fitz’s fingers. “Actually, Wonderboy,” Dex began, a smirk slowly forming on his lips, “wanna see something cool?”

Fitz raised an eyebrow. “Amaze me.”

Sophie stood in stunned silence, hardly believing what she was hearing. There was no way that Linh could mean it _that_ way… right? But the way Linh stared into her eyes, the way she held on tightly to her hands convinced Sophie that maybe, just maybe, it was okay to assume this time around.

“Linh, I… I think I might…”

_Like you._

The words were right there, sitting on her tongue waiting for her to open her mouth and say it. But her heart was beating out of her chest, her head was pounding violently and her sweaty hands itched to reach up and tug at her eyelashes.

“…throw up.”

Word of advice: never wing your love confessions.

Tam had two options; a) tell Keefe he liked him outright or b) tell the whole long and confusing drawn out story of how he developed a crush on Keefe starting from when they first met. He went with option b.

“Before I met you, Sophie, and the others,” Tam began, “I never believed that things happened for a reason.” He waited for Keefe to say some joke about how this was going to be another sad backstory kind of deal, but the blond Empath remained silent.

Tam took a huge breath before continuing on, “I mean, my parents pretty much threw us away like disposable garbage and Exillium taught us that the world was everyone for themselves.” He paused. “And then I met you.

“You, Sophie, Dex, Wylie… we’ve all suffered facing the prejudices of the Elvin world. Whatever happened between me and my parents wasn’t right, but maybe it was what needed to be done so I could realize the faults of our society. But…” Tam let out a frustrated growl to sum up his emotions, “now my parents are asking for forgiveness, the Council seems just as powerless as we are, and there’s always the Neverseen around to make things fun. Not to mention the crush I have on you and the crippling anxiety I get when I imagine how fast you’ll reject me when I eventually tell you. And to make matters worse, I’m now a student – “

“Wait,” Keefe interrupted, a confused expression on his face, “you like me?”

Tam stopped in his rant, dumbfounded. “D-did I… say that out loud?”

“Is that why you were snooping around the shelves and chanting ‘shit, shit, shit’ over and over again,” Keefe barked out a laugh. Tam’s ears reddened.

“You heard that?”

“I assumed you just hated me _that_ much and was trying to avoid me at all costs. So, I said ‘hi’ to annoy you.” Tam blushed and looked away.

“No, I-I don’t hate you…”

“So,” Keefe started, bringing his hands up behind his head, “you like me?” The teasing in his tone and the playful smirk he had on were enough to make Tam’s anger tip over the edge. He turned to grab Keefe by the collar.

“Shut up, Blondie. You better not use this against me or I swear I’ll kill you,” he growled out.

“Well, I can’t really use it against you if…” Keefe trailed off as he moved his arms to wrap around Tam’s waist. “I like you, too.”

Once again, for possibly the hundredth time that day. Tam’s brain went into overdrive, hindering his ability to think straight.

“Bullshit.” His grip on Keefe’s shirt collar loosened.

“It’s true!” Keefe protested. “In fact, I’ll prove it to you now.”

“What are you… “ Tam’s question trailed off when Keefe simultaneously pulled him closer by the waist and leaned in to –

“Ow!” Keefe and Tam both whined, clutching onto their noses in pain.

“What was that for?” Tam asked after a few moments, glaring at Keefe through his bangs. Keefe laughed.

“Was that not romantic enough for you, Bangs Boy?” It didn’t take long for Tam to join in on the laughing and soon, they were both bent over gripping their stomachs and giggling like idiots. Tam hadn’t felt this carefree in a long time.

As the last of their giggles died down, Tam turned to look at the Empath beside him. A careless dumbass who used to annoy the hell out of him but had somehow become someone Tam felt like he could trust with a few of his biggest insecurities.

“Keefe, I – “ Time seemed to stop as Keefe stopped laughing and turned to look at Tam, a crooked smile still stuck on his face. Tam leaned closer, seemingly drawn by an invisible electrical charge that pulled him forward. “Can I…?” His voice was barely a whisper.

Keefe didn’t respond. Instead, he leaned forward to close the gap between them and pressed their lips together into a kiss. To say that Tam felt fireworks would be far too huge of an understatement. In a second, Keefe had wrapped his arms around Tam’s waist again, and Tam was threading his hands through Keefe’s messy blond hair.

When they finally pulled away, both blushing and out of breath, Tam shot Keefe a puzzled look. “What – what about…”

“Sophie? I got over her a while ago,” Keefe said quietly, looking away. “I think I actually got over her long before I realized it because liking her was just so… comfortable. Unlike you, which is like stepping on a landmine.”

“Oh, shut up!” Tam laughed, giving Keefe a playful slap to the shoulder.

“Yeah, how ‘bout you?” Keefe asked. “When did you start liking me?”

Tam’s face grew hot and he knew for sure he was blushing all shades of pink when he said, “How about I tell you the next time we go on a date, huh?”

“Are you asking me out, Bangs Boy?”

“Hah, you wish, Blondie.”

“Woah,” Fitz gasped, staring up at the beautiful array of colors that spun and twirled throughout the shop, highlighting everything in in a soft glow.

“Right?” Dex said, a smug look on his face. “It’s one of the lesser known uses of Secto-sludge. But look, it gets even better.”

Before Fitz was able to ask what he meant by that, the streaks of color began to shatter, turning into small particles of light that floated through the air. It was not unlike the annual light shows that Orem Vacker would give during the solar eclipse festivals.

For just a fraction of a second, Dex forgot all about his irrational dislike for Fitz. It didn’t last very long.

“Wow. Dex, I never knew you could do something like this.”

 _Ouch_.

Dex tried not to feel to hurt by his comment. It was _Fitz_ , after all. “Not what you expected from the son of a bad match?” Dex asked before he could help it.

Fitz turned sharply to look at him. “What? No, that’s not what I…”

“It’s fine,” Dex said dismissively. He jammed the cork back onto the bottle of Secto-sludge mixture, instantly causing the lights to dissipate. “You, um, you should probably get back.”

The back of Dex’s eyes began to burn, and he felt himself start to have a nervous breakdown. He’d rather Fitz not be here when the waterworks began.

“Yeah, I probably should,” Fitz agreed, taking out his home crystal and holding it up into the dim light. “And I’m taking you with me.”

Before Dex could fully comprehend what Fitz meant by that, the Telepath had grabbed ahold of Dex’s hand and dragged him into the faint beam of light.

“What are you – “ Dex paused midsentence to take in his surroundings. They were in Everglen – right outside the huge, light-absorbing gates that surrounded the estate. “You know this counts as kidnapping, right?”

“Yeah, I’m willing to take that risk.” Fitz laughed, opening up the gate and pulling Dex inside. “Besides, we’re friends. This is what friends do!”

“Are we friends though, Wonderboy?” Dex asked as Fitz began leading him away from the main building and towards the huge yard that surrounded it. As if the huge security system and elegant castle weren’t enough, the Vackers seemed to have decorated their grounds with fancy trinkets or plants to further display their wealth.

“Let me counter that with another question: do you want to be friends?”

“What are we; first years?” Once again, Fitz let out a laugh that maybe, probably made Dex’s heart clench as the two continued deeper into Everglen’s jungle of a backyard.

Fitz slowed down when they neared the lake. “Here,” he said, gently pushing an annoyed Dex to sit down at the water’s edge. He plopped down beside him soon after.

“Um… so, what’s all this for?” Dex asked, turning to look at Fitz.

“You just… looked like you needed a break,” Fitz explained.

“Wonderboy – “

“Shht,” Fitz shushed him, pressing a finger to the Technopath’s lips. It was times like these that Dex wished he hadn’t given his Sucker Punch to Sophie. Because if he’d had that gadget right now…

“Whenever I get really stressed or nervous about, y’know, stuff, I come here and it helps me relax,” Fitz said. He stared out across the lake with a soft smile on his face. They had already spent most of the day locked up in the library, and then at Slurps and Burps. The sun was beginning to set, casting everything in a soft, orange glow.

“Yeah, right,” Dex replied in an overdramatically sarcastic manner. “I don’t believe you’ve ever had to worry about subject scores in your life, being the perfect golden boy and all.”

Fitz barked out a laugh. It was so out of character for him that Dex turned away from the lake to look at him. “You’d be surprised at the number of all-nighters I’ve pulled to get to the top. Keefe, on the other hand, he’s the one with real talent. No matter what Lord Cassius says and how… _immature_ he can be, Keefe’s always been someone I looked up to.” Fitz paused, “Until recently, that is.”

“Oh.”

Silence fell upon the two boys after that, but unlike earlier, Dex felt that the awkwardness surrounding the two of them had slightly begun to eb away. And, for once in the few years they’d known each other, this was the first time that Dex had actually talked to Fitz. The real Fitz. Not the one he played nice with so Sophie wouldn’t have a hard time.

They were alone. And anything he said would be for Fitz and no one else.

“Wonderboy – Fitz – I’m sorry,” Dex spoke quietly, his face turned away from the Telepath as he looked across the lake. “I grew up being ridiculed just because some people we don’t even know told my parents that they couldn’t be together. I bet the triplets have it even worse. I guess I always assumed that everyone was against us. I misjudged you, and I’m sorry.”

The chilly night air made Dex suddenly aware of the fact that while he had been talking, Fitz had slowly inched their hands closer together. He could feel the heat coming from the other boy’s hand, and on a whim, Dex reached out and placed his hand on top of it.

“I… have to apologize as well,” Fitz said slowly. He turned his hand over and gave Dex’s hand a small squeeze. “I can’t believe I’ve been so ignorant to our world’s flaws. For all these years, I’ve just accepted things as they were. And I never cared to listen to your side of the story, either.”

Fitz finally turned to look Dex in the eye. “Since we apologized, can we just move on from this?” he said with a small laugh.

“Yeah, of course.”

“I feel like this moment should be bigger,” Fitz said with a frown.

“Um, hug?” Dex suggested awkwardly. This was what friends did, right?

“Kiss.”

Before Dex had a chance to react, Fitz grabbed him by the shoulders, leaned in, and gently pressed his lips onto Dex’s forehead. Dex’s cheeks burned and he was sure his face was beet red by now.

“By the way,” Fitz said as he pulled away, “I’m pretty sure Biana’s been peeking at us from her window for at least ten minutes now.”

“She _what_?!”

“I think I might… throw up.”

Sophie couldn’t clearly remember what happened after that. Her vision became blurry, and Linh and Sandor’s panicked voices sounded hundreds of miles too far. Sophie’s knees buckled and strong arms wrapped themselves around her to keep her from falling. The sound of voices eventually faded, and everything went black.

Sophie woke up in her room.

The last dying rays of the setting sun was the only light illuminating her room, bathing it in a golden glow. Standing at the edge of the room with her back to Sophie and eyes trained on the window, was Linh.

With a jolt, Sophie was reminded of the incidents of that day, right down to when Linh had confessed and Sophie had… well… completely freaked out and fainted instead of confessing back like a normal person. Floods of embarrassment and anxiety came crashing down all at once.

As if sensing her discomfort, Linh suddenly turned around. Her eyes widened when she saw that Sophie was awake.

“S-Sophie! How… are you feeling?” There was a slight hesitation in her tone, and Sophie noticed that Linh didn’t make any motion to move closer to the bed. She pushed herself up into a sitting position before answering.

“I’m, um, fine now.”

The silence after was suffocating. A few seconds turned into minutes and pretty soon, it had become far too awkward for either of them to say anything. Linh busied herself with observing the flowers on Sophie’s carpet, and Sophie found it very interesting to stare at a certain crease on her sheets and wish to be born as a sea anemone in her next life.

 _There’s no way out of this situation unless you confront it_ , Sophie thought in an attempt to psyche herself up. The words were right there on her tongue. She just needed to open her mouth and say them. To get Linh to understand.

Sophie took a deep breath in. “Linh, a-about earlier – “

“I’ll go get your parents!” As if snapping out of a trance, Linh was suddenly heading toward the door at an incredibly fast pace, now that she had an excuse. But Sophie wasn’t going to let this opportunity slip that easily.

“Linh, wait.”

The other girl’s hand paused on the doorknob, but she didn’t move. Sophie quickly threw the covers off of herself, discovering that she had been changed into sparkly alicorn pajamas, and took a few slow steps in Linh’s direction.

“I-I’m an idiot,” Sophie began, continuing to walk towards Linh as she spoke. “When you asked me to hang out with you in Atlantis today, I was so happy. And then you brought me flowers, and paid for the meal at the restaurant we went to, and I kind of suspected that it was more than just a simple hangout… I hoped.”

Linh didn’t speak, but Sophie could see that her hand was no longer reaching for the door. So, Sophie reached out and grabbed onto Linh’s hand, turning her to face her. “Linh, I like you. I should have said this earlier, but I really, really like you.”

“Really?” Linh turned to look up at Sophie.

“Really.” Sophie gave her a smile, “You’re so beautiful and amazing, strong, and your heart is always in the right place. Who wouldn’t fall for you?”

“You, too,” Linh said, a small smirk forming on her soft features. “You’ve got boys falling left and right for you. And one girl apparently,” she added, pointing to herself. Sophie let out a small laugh.

It was the first time in her life she had actually voiced out her romantic feelings to someone else, and it felt… safe. Comfortable. It wasn’t at all like the scary fantasy she had worked it up to be in her head.

Linh stood up straighter and grabbed onto Sophie’s other hand, raising them up to chest level. She cleared her throat. “Well, there is only one thing left to do,” she said.

“Wh-what’s that…?”

“Sophie Foster, will you be my girlfriend?”

Sophie didn’t hesitate. She didn’t have to. Her whole life was and would always be filled with tough decisions leading to dire consequences, but for once, she wasn’t afraid.

“Yes.”

For once, she knew she would not regret it.

And for once since the Black Swan and their secrets, since the multiple trials of the Council, and since the constant Neverseen attacks, Sophie was really, truly happy.

“Wow,” Fitz breathed out as he stared at the thousands of stars sprinkled across the brilliant night sky. “The stars are so beautiful tonight.”

Keefe barked out a laugh from where he lay on the grass, “You know who else is beautiful?”

“Dex,” Fitz answered. At the same time, Dex piped up with a “Fitz” from somewhere on the other side of Fitz. Keefe rolled his eyes.

“I was going to say Tam, but I respect your opinion. Also, I’m never third-wheeling with you two again. Being in the same vicinity as Fitzster and the Dexinator cuddle time isn’t doing it for me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I swear trying to finish one of the best fanfictions I've ever written after months of writer's block is so stressful. I hope I did justice to the fanfiction I started a year ago, but honestly, I don't think I did.
> 
> So, I'm going to try new things and write dumb crackfics and angst stories instead of the usual romance and for different fandoms. Thank you so much for reading, leaving kudos and giving comments - they really make my day :]]
> 
> On a more serious note, I highly encourage you to educate yourself on issues such as BLM, but please remember that your mental health matters, too. Corona-chan is still out there so please continue wearing your masks and stay safe yalls. Until next time :]

**Author's Note:**

> It's been a while since I started writing this, so I don't particularly ship Sophie x Linh anymore (oof) and I never really shipped Dex x Fitz, but I do see the potential and the interesting dynamic they have (especially in the first book).  
> Also, yes, there will be a part 2 and a part 3 (under construction).
> 
> stay safe yalls :]


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